"Goddamn it, he's gonna make it," Mark said.
And then the group seemed to disappear as three explosions ripped across the face of Patrice's palace.
"Damn it, damn them all," Goldberg hissed. The explosion roared across the harbor, echoing and re-echoing.
From out of the boiling maelstrom, lone sorcerers appeared, staggering, pulling back. The last to emerge was Tulana.
"Pull out," Tulana's voice cut through the comm link. "Get out, we're finished."
"Maintain fire," Saito shouted, and the group laid down a protective series of bolts over Tulana who, cutting low, streaked down the main boulevard of Patrice's city, a half dozen survivors around him, while from behind a host of demons led by a towering form closed in.
"Get in the water, break and run!" Tulana shouted. "We can't fight them anymore up here!"
"Go!" Sul called, pushing up by Mark's side.
"We're out of here, Captain!" Goldberg shouted, diving into the water.
Grabbing Sul's dorsal with his left hand, Mark dipped below the waves.
With powerful kicks, the ladulta pushed away, going deep. All around him Mark could sense or see his battered companions, surging due west, racing for the narrow harbor entrance.
"Ahead, crystal!" Sul called and cut a sharp right angle. A flash snapped through the water, the shock wave ripping through Mark. Two ladulta surged past, Shigeru on one, Giorgini on the other, between them Boreas, protected by their shields. Mark could see it was a dangerously close thing--they were desperately overextending themselves. A close hit would overload them. Then they disappeared from view as Sul pulled ahead.
For long minutes the group surged through the harbor, unable to gain the surface against the combined strength of the wall crystals and demons above. Their only hope was to zigzag through the water, dodging the depth charges.
"The harbor entrance is just ahead," Sul called.
This was the tough spot, Mark realized. The demons would be surging into this point to block their retreat and force them to the surface.
"Not much farther," Kochanski called. "Two hundred yards and we're out."
A booming echo snapped through the ocean, half a hundred ladulta picking up the call.
Sul slowed.
"What is it?" Mark cried.
"Cresus," Sul hissed.
"Merciful God," Mark groaned. The entire group seemed to pause. Snaps of energy flashed ahead, and the shadowy forms loomed larger.
"They must have kept them off to one side on the bottom while we swept in, and then herded them in," Kochanski cried. "We've got to go up!"
"Stay down and get through them!" Tulana roared through his comm link, and pushing forward he let go of his ladulta. "Get between them and then out."
With a wild shout, Tulana charged straight in.
"Hang on," Sul called, and drove forward.
Mark could sense half a dozen of the beasts, filling the harbor entrance from one side to the other, being driven forward by teams of sorcerers who kept striking their flanks and their tops in order to keep them from breaching.
Tulana slammed out a series of bolts to the left and right, and a gap between two of the beasts started to open.
Sul cut straight in.
"Crystal behind us!"
Mark looked back and could sense the energy of a small gem as it dropped.
A snap of fire slashed out and Tulana, caught by the blast, rolled out of control.
"Tulana!" Mark screamed.
The maw of a Cresus swept past him, Horrified, Mark watched as Tulana struggled weakly to get out of its way.
"I'll see you in hell!" Tulana roared.
The maw closed over him and he was gone.
Ladulta charged past Mark and Sul, shouting their rage, pulling the battered survivors out. A bolt of energy snapped past Mark and, uncaring, he looked up to see an enemy sorcerer hovering above a Cresus. Mark waited for the death blow, but Sul cut downward in a twisting spiral, racing for the ocean floor.
The Cresus surged past them, its massive tail flukes creating a swirl of turbulence; then suddenly it was behind them.
Sul's voice boomed through the ocean, calling to his companions, and Mark could sense the cries of grief as the shattered remnants of the attack force retreated into the open sea.
Beyond caring, Mark hung on as Sul dodged among the depth charges. Gradually, the concussions dropped away, the only sound the calls of wounded ladulta echoing feebly through the water.
"Rally on me," a faint voice hissed through the comm link. It was Saito.
Mark roused from his lethargy and looked around.
The clicking cali of a ladulta snapped through the water.
Sul turned and pushed on, and gradually Mark could sense other forms moving in the water. "Rally on me." The voice was stronger now.
Several dozen forms were in the water ahead, and Mark forced himself to regain his composure. For the first time since the explosion in the harbor, he became aware of the throbbing pain in his right arm, and of the thin swirl of blood streaming from it. Looking down at Sul's side, he saw a similar trail welling out from his companion.
"We're a fine pair," Mark thought.
"At least we survived," Sul replied sadly as they joined the exhausted remnants of the assault team.
"The captain made it," Goldberg called, dropping away from his ladulta to come up and float by Mark's side.
Mark could feel his world going dark. "How bad?"
"Half the assault team is gone," Saito replied.
"Our people?"
"Not sure yet," Saito told him.
"Green Leader, Green Leader," an insistent voice whispered through the comm link, and Mark finally realized that it had been calling for several minutes now.
"Green Leader here," Saito called.
"Did you smash the portal? We saw a tremendous explosion," Ikawa asked.
Saito hesitated. "Negative, it was only their wall crystals. The attack is finished."
There was a moment of silence.
"Is this Saito?" Leti called.
"I'm in command now."
"Mark--where is he?" Ikawa cut in, his voice edged with panic.
"Wounded." Saito looked appraisingly at Mark with the cold gaze of a combat soldier judging the condition of another. "He'll pull through."
"Rally in to us," Leti whispered. "The sky is clear."
"Here comes Shigeru," Goldberg announced, pointing downward.
From the murk, Shigeru and Giorgini emerged, still towing Boreas. Alongside them was Kochanski pulling Smithie, who was now unconscious.
"We better get in to Leti before they pick us up again!" Saito announced, leading the way straight up.
"I leave you now," Sul whispered.
"You and your herd are true warriors," Mark replied sadly, and let go of the dorsal to gently stroke Sul.
"We stay to keep fighting?" the ladulta asked.
Torn, Mark looked at his friend. How could he tell him the battle was lost, that Gorgon would break through and that Haven would be devastated in the wars to come?
"Go out to sea. If we should win, we will call you. But if you hear no more of us, know that we died to help preserve your world. Avoid all humans who are left, for they will be servants of the evil one and might harm you."
"I will wait for your call," Sul whispered, nuzzling up by Mark's side before turning away and swimming off into the darkness.
At last Mark broke clear of the ocean. Northward on the distant horizon he could see the outline of Patrice's city, a towering pillar of smoke above it. Saito circled for a moment above the group, then pointed back toward a hill half a dozen miles from the city and winged off.
Struggling, Mark tried to keep up. He spared a glance at the bedraggled survivors. Barely a man was uninjured, and clusters of sorcerers clung together, helping to pull their unconscious and badly injured companions toward safety.
"Here they come again!"
Wearily Mark looked up and saw a
scattering of dots straight ahead in the sky.
Grimly he tried to force his shield up. The world seemed to close in as if he was looking down a long dark tunnel swirling with dancing spots of light. The tunnel closed into blackness, and he felt himself falling away into night.
"Just what in the name of all the gods did you do?" Patrice stormed through the shattered wreckage of her audience chamber to confront Takgutha, who stood defiantly in the middle of the room, surrounded by a dozen of his companions.
"They were breaking through. I used the wall crystals to stop them."
"Breaking through!" Patrice screamed. "You destroyed half my wall crystals, you shattered my palace, hundreds of my people are dead in the streets. Damn you, it looks like they did break through!"
"I stopped them," Takgutha growled.
"How did they get this far by sea? Was the harbor entrance blocked as I had arranged?"
"The command was not properly passed," Takgutha said coldly. "The creatures were not in position, but they did finish them off on the way out. It was a good plan; we wiped them out."
"Where's Kuthna? I want to hear his side of this."
"He was killed in the explosions, my lady. I am sorry--he was a good battle commander." A thin smile crossed Takgutha's features.
Wild with fury, Patrice whirled around. The bastard had set her up. He had undoubtedly blocked the order to move the Cresus in. He wanted an attack from sea to get this far and to use it as an excuse to smash most of her wall crystals.
"You wanted this battle to prove yourself to your lord!" Patrice snarled.
"I am a warrior," Takgutha said matter-of-factly.
"Then prove it!" Patrice raised her hand and slammed a bolt into Takgutha before he could respond, knocking him off his feet. Snarling, his companions started to snap up their shields.
"Don't move!" Takgutha roared, coming to his knees. A torrent of blood poured from his right arm.
Patrice struggled for control. "We'll have a reckoning on this." She swept out of the room, Takgutha following her with a hateful gaze.
Down into the heart of her palace she stormed, cursing inwardly at the wreckage--and cursing herself. The Heart had been tantalizingly within her reach until the offworlders had struck her. Now she channeled her energy to the ugly scorches on her side and the back of her head. The pain eased, though true healing would have to come later.
She was tempted to gather her forces and strike Leti again to finish it off. Too much time had been wasted, though, and again she upbraided herself. So what if her palace, her crystals, even her city was destroyed? She could have had the Heart. Yet Gorgon was now so close to coming through. She had to be present. Was Takgutha a portent? she wondered darkly. Would Gorgon betray her?
Her mind swirled with the contradictions arising to what she had felt to be such a seamless plan for success. And she felt an inward chill now--for after all, the one thing she could never truly read was what lingered in Gorgon's heart.
She had to be present at the moment he came through, to judge him. Yet he had promised so much, his voice whispering to her across the centuries, promising all when this moment finally arrived.
Takgutha would pay for this; his blood would cement the bond. She wanted to see Gorgon flay the living flesh from his vassal's body, and then she would know. Patrice turned to one of her companions.
"Tell that bastard Takgutha I want him in the portal chamber."
The sorcerer looked at her coldly, and bowing, turned away.
Two sorcerers stepped from a side alcove and bowed low. "The traitor you wanted," and they pointed to where Imada stood.
Patrice stopped and gazed at the boy, who looked at her with innocent eyes.
Her features softened. "Why did you come to me?" she whispered, probing inward, searching his mind.
"My Vena served you," he replied. "I did not know it, but you had bonded me to you as well. When I saw you, I could not harm you."
The boy fell to his knees and abased himself before her.
She did not know whether she felt disgust or something else at the sight of him, so totally vulnerable, totally willing to do anything she might wish. She hesitated. After all, he might be an amusing plaything. Reaching down, she gently grasped his hair, raising his head and gazing into his eyes before letting him go.
"Bring him along," she said softly, and proceeded on. She'd have to think about him when there was time. If she decided not to accept him, at least Gorgon would be amused to have an offworlder to examine.
The doors to the portal room were wide open, the corridor lit with a lurid blood-red glow. Demons lined the corridor and at her approach bowed low. Without slowing she entered the chamber.
For an instant her senses recoiled at the raw power in the room. Two hundred demons stood in a vast circle, arms extended. The crystals to either side of the pentagram glowed with such blinding light that Patrice averted her gaze.
Gorgon hovered in the middle of the pentagram, his form rippling with power, his body taut, as if straining against an unseen barrier that was gradually falling away.
At the sight of Patrice, a smile crossed his features.
"Soon, very soon," Gorgon laughed, his chilling voice booming and echoing.
Patrice gazed at him, probing, unsure.
"I have heard one of my warriors displeases you?" Gorgon whispered, his voice now soft, melodious.
Patrice nodded, struggling to remain detached, to judge his inner thoughts.
"I will reward him properly for you when I emerge," and his voice was like the promising sigh of a lover.
"Soon you shall have Haven at your feet, the Heart Crystal in your hand, and I shall defeat Jartan, who has ignored you far too long."
Patrice felt an inner voice catling to her, as if warning her to step back from the edge of the abyss. She looked into Gorgon's eyes and his smiling gaze washed over her.
"It is time now that I come through and join you, my lover," Gorgon called, and the room surged with light.
Chapter 17
"There's nothing else to be done," Leti said grimly, looking around at the assembled group.
Ikawa stood by Leti's side, his gaze on the ground. He knew she was right, but the finality of it was still so sudden. Only an hour ago, when he had seen the explosions ripple across Patrice's palace, he had thought for sure that the mission had been a success. Wild cheering had broken out. And then the garbled battle reports had come in--the obvious cries of an army defeated and in retreat.
At that moment he had looked to Leti and had known what she had quietly formed in her heart and had been carrying since the meeting in Asmara, the true reason why she had insisted on bringing the Heart Crystal. She was going to destroy the Heart, Patrice's city, and herself.
"Do you see any hope of pulling back toward Asmara?" Pina ventured.
"Hopeless," Valdez growled. "Gorgon and his host will explode out of there soon--damn soon. Even I can sense the power surging out of that hellhole. We'll be overrun before we even get started. Leti is right. It's the only chance we have to stop him."
The group was silent again.
"I agree with Leti." Boreas, his features grey and drawn, limped into the circle of sorcerers surrounding the Heart. Ikawa could see that every step for the demigod must be an agony.
"I sensed this was Leti's final plan, but I did not speak since I believed we could break through from the sea. It worked at Baltaman during the Great War; I believed it would work again here."
"And Patrice fought at Baltaman, and helped lead the attack by sea," Valdez said quietly, the slightest edge of reproach in his voice.
Boreas looked at the sorcerer and nodded.
"There is no time now for recriminations," Leti said quietly.
"When I go forward, I'll not look back. I am not ordering anyone to do this, though I'll need all of you if there is to be any hope of getting close enough. If you should decide to turn away, I will not see it, and there will be no shame. We've got to ge
t close, right up to the wall at the very least. If there's time, I'll give the word to run, but if not, if it seems they're about to overwhelm us, I'll do what has to be done without warning."
"What will happen when she hits the Heart with that red crystal?" Shigeru whispered to Ikawa.
"Boom," Walker said evenly, coming up to stand next to the wrestler. "You saw what a wall crystal can do when it goes. When that big baby lets go, it'll flatten everything for miles. It'll blow that city apart, and take the portal with it."
"Those poor people in that city," Goldberg sighed. "They had nothing to do with this."
Leti nodded at Goldberg.
"I'm truly sorry about that, it is not in our creed to harm innocent people in war. But if we do not do this, millions will die, for Haven will become a battleground when Jartan returns. And if he should not stop Gorgon, this world will become a nightmare."
"What about those too injured to move?" one of the healers asked, motioning to more than thirty sorcerers who lay under the shade of a nearby tree. Mark was among them, as was Smithie and Kochanski, who had suffered a severe concussion and collapsed after the group had made it back to land.
"If we succeed and smash the portal, then look after them," Leti whispered. "If not," and she paused, "then I think you know what you'll have to do for them."
The healer seemed to struggle with her inner feelings, and then wordlessly she stepped back to the wounded.
"Are there any comments? Though I ask you make them brief--even now the portal is bending outward, almost ready to burst. We must move quickly."
No one spoke.
"Then I give you five minutes to prepare as you see fit."
The group broke up, most of the sorcerers going off to be by themselves.
The offworlders came to circle around Ikawa.
"Let's go see Mark," he said quietly.
"He just came to," one of the healers said quietly, rising from Mark's side.
Ikawa knelt beside his friends. The healer had closed the wound, but was unable to expend more energy to knit the bone since so many required her attention. The arm was padded and bound tightly in a splint.
"I heard what she said," Mark whispered.
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